The Good: Seems to do some of what it claims.
The Bad: Expensive for quantity, Indistinct taste, Not a great healing agent.
The Basics: A disappointing Doctor Burt's/Burt's Bees product, Res-Q Ointment is very average and does not do all it claims. There are better products on the market.
One of the real nice things about having a wife who truly takes care of herself (I'm definitely more schlumpy than my wife!) is that I suddenly find myself with access to all sorts of health and beauty products that I never had access to before. I swear, falling in love is a wonderful boon in so many ways, not the least of which is giving me an influx of new products to review. My partner seems to love the Burt's Bees line of skin - mostly lip - care products and as a result, I suddenly find I have a wealth of new-to-me things to review. The first product from Burt's Bees, though, that I am reviewing is one that failed to wow me. That is the Burt's Bees Res-Q Ointment.
The last few days, I have been ill (hence the fall-off in my posted reviews!) and because I have been blowing my nose an obscene amount to clear out my chest, I have found my lips have been getting dried out and cracked. If nothing else, this makes for the best possible time to try something like Burt's Bees Res-Q Ointment, which I found on the nightstand in a little .6 oz. tin. Of all of the Burt's Bees - now also under the Doctor Burt's imprint as the older line gets repackaged - products around our house, this one seemed like the one most likely to restore my chapping, cracking lips to a state where my partner might want to kiss me ever again. Alas, the product failed to do that. To its credit, though, my lips have not gotten worse since I started using the Res-Q Ointment.
Burt's Bees Doctor Burt's Res-Q Ointment comes in a .6 oz. tin (that's 17 grams for those on the metric system) and the tin is about an inch and a half in diameter and a half-inch tall. The tin is sealed initially with a plastic safety seal which makes it easy to see if anyone has tampered with it. Once that is removed, one need only twist the top of the tin off and one has access to the Res-Q Ointment. The Res-Q Ointment is a thick, waxy substance that occupies the bottom half of the tin. It has the consistency of candle wax, until one runs a finger over the top of the surface. Then, a thin film forms and that allows the Res-Q Ointment to be transferred from the container to a finger to the ailing skin.
Burt's Bee's Doctor Burt's Res-Q Ointment smells like olive oil and lavender and the smell is inoffensive enough. The product does not taste like anything. This is both a benefit and a detraction in my book. The benefit is that it does not taste like ointment or have any sort of medicinal taste or smell to it. The detraction is that this bland product leaves no yummy taste on my - or my wife's - lips to make the healing process more fun or interesting. Instead of a fun game of "guess which flavor this is?" one gets "So, what do you think of the mildly greasy film on my lips?" That game is nowhere near as fun.
And the Res-Q Ointment does leave a greasy film on the lips or other places one applies it. For an objective testing, I applied the Ointment to an abrasion I had on my elbow and for about three hours, there was a noticeable greasy spot on my skin there.
Despite the claims that Res-Q Ointment will heal the dry or broken skin, all the Res-Q Ointment did for me was stop the further damage. Even on the abrasion, there was no noticeable acceleration of the healing process (whereas, with something like Neosporin, there is). My lips remained fairly chapped and split, but they did not get worse. Once the flaky parts flaked off, my lips looked all right enough, but they were still not truly soft or kissable. They were more like "passable" than "healed." Anyone looking for a quick fix to soft, kissable lips (or elbows) will not find it with this product.
I tend to evaluate health and beauty products on three criteria: taste/scent, living up to the promised benefits, and price/value. On the taste/scent front Burt's Bees Res-Q Ointment is a disappointment. Would it have killed Doctor Burt's to make the product taste good as opposed to be light and vaguely oily? Would it not encourage people to use the product more if it had a sweet or fruity taste to it? Similarly, I was underwhelmed with the supposed benefits of this product. It was very easy to use, but it was underwhelming with its supposed rescuing qualities. It did a decent job of preventing further damage, but it was hardly a miracle salve and those who are fans of Burt's Bees products might do well to observe that it is oily and leaves a film wherever it is placed. It does not significantly accelerate healing or make one's lips luscious and kissable all of a sudden.
The final nail in the coffin for me was the fact that this is expensive for what one gets. I am a fan of the "all-natural" cosmetics concept, but Doctor Burt's really wants consumers to pay for that! Loaded with vitamin E, Comfrey, lavender, wheat germ and olive oils, this has nothing in it that is unpronouncable. The Res-Q Ointment is not bad for a protectant (which is not what it is supposed to be). But at $5.00 for a .6 oz. container, the benefits make for a ridiculously poor overall value. There are other product that either do the same thing for less money or do what the Res-Q Ointment claims to do for a more reasonable price.
Either way, it is impossible for me to recommend this one and those who love Burt's Bees or Doctor Burt's products will find other products in the line better for their needs.
For other Burt's Bees or skin protectant reviews, please check out my takes on:
Burt's Bees Hand Salve
Burt's Bees Medicated Lip Balm
The Body Shop Strawberry Body Butter
4.5/10
For other health and beauty product reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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